Every Gen Z stat you could ever ask for, right at your fingertips

No matter your interest in Generation Z, here’s a list of crucial Z stats you won’t want to miss.

You asked for it — so here it is.

We’ve compiled key stats that we think speak to Gen Zers' needs, behaviors, quirks, attitudes, likes, dislikes and preferences as a cohort — consumer and/or otherwise.

By putting all the number-crunching under one roof, it’s our hope you’ll gain convenient, global insight into what members of Gen Z are looking for in terms of brands, advertising, technology, shopping, content consumption, finances, leisure time and social causes.

Without further ado, let’s do the numbers!

What does Gen Z want from brands?

• 65 percent of Gen Zs say they want real value for their money.¹

• 36 percent feel a strong loyalty or connection to a brand.¹
  

• 47 percent of Gen Zers who engaged with a brand feel dissatisfied or neutral about that brand’s response.¹
  

• 59 percent of Gen Zs trust the brands they grew up with.¹
  

• 44 percent of Gen Zs, if given the chance, would submit ideas for product designs.¹
  

• On average, Gen Zers share twice as much positive feedback to brands as they share negative feedback.¹
  

• 62 percent of Gen Zs find themselves attracted to brands they view as “fun or cool.”¹ 
  

• 55 percent of Zs buy from brands they consider eco-friendly.¹
  

• 53 percent state their “favorite brand” is able to “understand them as an individual.”¹
  

• 45 percent are more favorable to brands that have been endorsed by celebrities or athletes.¹
  

• 76 percent of Gen Zers want brands to respond to their voices and feedback — and view "responsiveness" as a metric of a brand’s “authenticity.”¹

How does Gen Z feel about advertising?

• The average Gen Zer's attention span for an ad is approximately eight seconds.¹³ 
  

• 56 percent of Gen Zers don’t click on ads when browsing websites.² 
  

• 66 percent use only push notifications from certain apps, but not all. ²
  

• 65 percent have installed some form of ad-blocking technology.³ 
  

• 66 percent skip online ads whenever they can.³
  

• 12 percent are willing to pay for premium, ad-less services.³
  

• 36 percent will “do something else” while a digital ad is playing.³
  

• 20 percent of Gen Zers report that they “don’t mind [digital] ads.”³ 

• 47 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because ads interrupt me.”³

• 41 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because ads slow down my phone.”³
  

• 36 percent of Gen Zers who have installed mobile ad-blocking technology state that the main reason for ad-blocking is “because the ads aren’t relevant.”³
  

• 53 percent of Gen Zers enjoy cinema advertising.³
  

• 55 percent of Gen Zers enjoy outdoor advertising.³
  

• 51 percent of Gen Zers enjoy print magazine advertising.³
  

• 49 percent of Gen Zers enjoy newspaper advertising.³
  

• 48 percent of Gen Zers enjoy TV advertising.³
  

• 39 percent of Gen Zers enjoy radio advertising.³
  

• 54 percent of Gen Zers feel positive about online branded content.³
  

• 50 percent of Gen Zers respond well to ads placed in social news feeds.

• 45 percent of Gen Zers engage readily with native advertising formats and articles.³

What technologies does Gen Z use — and how?

• 97.6 percent of Gen Zs own a smartphone across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.²
  

• Nearly one quarter (22 percent) of Gen Zs use their smartphones 10+ hours per day.⁴
  

• 31 percent of Gen Zers don’t feel comfortable without having their phone for “30 minutes or less.”⁴
  

• 94 percent own a laptop.²
  

• 44.2 percent own a tablet.²
  

• 36.9 percent own a gaming console.²
  

• 30 percent own a desktop computer.²
  

• 17.6 percent make use of some form of fitness tracker.²
  

• 14.2 percent possess a Smartwatch.²
  

• Only 3.5 percent of Gen Zs own virtual reality (VR) gear.²
  

• 87 percent of Gen Zs have access to high-speed WiFi at home.⁵
  

• 66 percent of Gen Zs report using more than one digital device simultaneously.⁵
  

• 49 percent of Gen Zs feel better socializing online rather than offline.⁵
  

• Fewer than 30 percent of Gen Zs are willing to share their personal health, wellness or financial information online.⁵
  

• 58 percent of Gen Zs don’t trust Facebook with their personal data.²
  

• 78 percent will entrust certain apps — though not all — to access their geo-locale.²
  

• 60 percent of Gen Zers won’t use a website or app that’s too slow to load.⁵
  

• 62 percent won’t use a website or app that’s hard to navigate.⁵
  

• 73 percent of Gen Zers use their smartphones to text and chat with one another.⁵
  

How does Gen Z shop?

• As of 2018, Gen Zs have approximately $143 billion in total spending power.⁶
  

• 41 percent of Gen Zers will read at least five online reviews before making a purchase.⁴
  

• Only 15 percent of Gen Zers see themselves as shopping exclusively online in the future; 77 percent see themselves shopping in a mixture of in-store and online environments.⁷
  

• 70 percent of Gen Zers report exerting an influence on their families’ purchasing decisions.⁵
  

• 46 percent of Gen Zs follow “more than 10” social media influencers.⁴
  

• 52 percent of Gen Zs are keeping track of at least three brands on social media.⁴
  

• Gen Zs prefer following brands on Instagram to Facebook by a 250-percent factor.⁴
  

• Gen Z prefers following brands on Instagram twice as much as Millennials.⁴
  

• 70 percent of Gen Z remain consistently loyal to the brand of smartphone they purchase.⁴
  

• 59 percent of Gen Zers show regular brand loyalty when it comes to electronics overall.⁴
  

• Only 38 percent of Gen Zers display the same level of loyalty to clothing brands as they would to electronics or smartphones.⁴
  

• 66 percent of Gen Zs will pay for music apps.²
  

• 31 percent will pay for game and entertainment apps..²
  

• 24 percent will pay for health and fitness apps.²
  

• 18 percent will spend money on apps that increase their productivity or provide them with some other type of day-to-day organization and/or utility.²
  

• 17 percent use apps to shop and browse.⁵
  

• 66 percent of Gen Zers stress the importance of high-quality products and services above other considerations.⁵
  

• 66 percent would rather do business at stores where “very few products” would ever be out of stock.⁵
  

• 65 percent of Gen Z shoppers want “real value” for their money — and are more inclined to purchase when offered coupons, incentives or a rewards program.⁵
  

• 56 percent stress the need for shopping experiences to “not be boring.”⁵
  

• 46 percent say the recommendations of friends and family members play a significant part in making their financial decisions.⁵

How does Gen Z consume content?

• 28 percent of Gen Zers subscribe to cable TV.⁵
  

• 61 percent have made the full crossover to digital streaming services.⁵
  

• 83 percent of Gen Zs watch Netflix.⁵
  

• 22 percent choose Amazon Instant TV.⁵
  

• 18 percent opt for subscribing to YouTube TV.⁵
  

• 77 percent of Gen Zs still read printed books regularly.²
  

• 54.2 percent of Gen Zers tune into livestreamed events.²
  

• 79.7 percent of Gen Zers receive their news via social media.²
  

• 54.7 percent learn about the news from apps.²
  

• 50.6 percent find out about news by watching television.²
  

• 44.3 percent receive news from digital news sites and blogs.²
  

• 19.2 percent get news updates from email newsletters.²
  

• 12.7 percent read print media to learn about current events.²
  

• A slight majority of Gen Zers report getting their news from laptops rather than smartphone, tablets, television or any other medium.²
  

• 66 percent of Gen Zers don’t listen to podcasts.²
  

• 74 percent of Gen Zers don’t watch Facebook Live or video streaming shows.²
  

• 56 percent of Gen Zers share more videos than they share articles.⁸

• 72 percent of Gen Zers cite “nighttime” as being the most frequent time of day when they watch video content.⁸
  

How does Gen Z manage its finances?

• 80 percent of Gen Zers cite “a higher salary” as the principle reason they want to go to college.⁹
  

• 52 percent of Gen Zers are confident they’ll graduate from college with less than $25,000 US (or the equivalent) in accumulated debt.⁹
  

• 73 percent of Gen Z students report having a job or a “side-hustle” to help pay for expenses.⁹
  

• Only 35 percent of Gen Z students rely on government loans to help pay for college or university.⁹
  

• 52 percent of Gen Zers don’t have credit cards.⁹
  

• 72 percent of Gen Zs have already opened either a savings or checking account by the time they graduate high school.⁹
  

• 54 percent of Gen Zers don’t plan on opening more than one bank account regardless of the incentive.⁹
  

• 25 percent of Gen Zs report that a $100 (or equivalent) incentive would give them enough impetus to open another banking account.⁹

How does Gen Z spend its free time?

• 74 percent of Gen Zers prefer spending time online.⁵
  

• 44 percent of Gen Zs enjoy watching non-digital TV and movies.⁵
  

• 44 percent of Gen Zers would rather be hanging out with their friends.⁵
  

• 44 percent of Gen Zers would equally enjoy spending time with their family.⁵
  

• 29 percent of Gen Zs try to earn extra money.⁵
  

• 25 percent of Gen Zs read books, magazines or newspapers.⁵
  

• 23 percent of Gen Zers take part in extracurricular activities.⁵
  

• 23 percent of Gen Zs would rather be exercising or otherwise staying fit.⁵
  

• 22 percent of Gen Zers want to learn new things.⁵
  

• 8 percent of Gen Zers spend time volunteering.⁵
  

• 6 percent of Gen Zs participate in organized group activities.⁵
  

• When traveling, 58 percent of Gen Zers would rather stay at hotels than either AirBnb or vacation rentals.¹⁰ 

What are the issues Gen Z cares about the most?

• Roughly 53 percent of Gen Zers agree that “personal success” is the most important thing in life.¹¹ 

• 93 percent of Gen Zers believe they're either “empowered” or “somewhat empowered” to shape "what [their] future will be".⁷
  

• 68 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about the environment.⁷
  

• 81 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about the costs of education.⁷

• 63 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about jobs and unemployment.⁷

• 35 percent of Gen Zs perceive terrorism as an important issue of its time.⁷

• ^{72 percent of Gen Zs view access to healthcare as a top concern.7}

• 70 percent of Gen Zers believe racial equality is a defining issue of their generation.¹¹

• Only around 12 percent of Gen Zers trust their country’s leadership.⁷
  

• 59 percent of Gen Zers feel their voices go unheard by their country’s leaders.⁷
  

• 64 percent of Gen Zers don’t see their country’s leadership as making progress on issues that are important to them.⁷

• 61 percent of Gen Zs believe brands are better positioned than governments to solve social problems¹⁴

• 71 percent of Gen Z sees access to healthcare as being important to its future.⁷
  

• 59 percent of Gen Z is in favor of some form of gun control.⁷
  

• 57 percent of Gen Z perceives immigration as an important issue.⁷
  

• 38 percent of Gen Zs are concerned about data privacy.⁷

• 62 percent believe increasing racial/ethnic diversity is good for society.¹² 
  

• 64 percent believe one key issue of their time is addressing gender inequality.¹¹ 

• 62 percent think tackling poverty is a driving issue.¹¹
  

• Roughly 57 percent of Gen Zers are concerned about income inequality.¹¹
  

• 60 percent of Gen Zers want their job to impact the planet positively in some way. ³
  

• 35 percent of Gen Zers personally know someone who describes themselves using a gender-neutral pronoun.¹² 
  

• 72 percent of Gen Zers plan on getting married in the future.⁷
  

• 70 percent of Gen Zs plan on having children in the future.⁷
  

• Over half of Gen Z believes that same-sex marriage makes society better.¹²  
  

• 53 percent of Gen Zers believe interracial marriage is good for society.¹²  
  

• 40 percent of Gen Z feels comfortable sharing its political opinions on social media.⁷
  

• 12 percent of Gen Zers voice their political opinions by taking part in marches or protests.⁷
  

• 35 percent of Gen Zs believe marijuana should be legalized outright, while another 50 percent believe marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes only.⁷

• Among environmental issues that are most important to Gen Zs, 85 percent cite “pollution,” whereas 87 percent cite "global warming/climate change".⁷
  

Sources cited

¹IBM and National Retail Federation report: “Gen Z brand relationships: authenticity matters”

² UNiDAYS and Ad Age: “Gen Z: Decoding the digital generation”

³Kantar Millward Brown: "Ad reaction: Gen Z, Y and X"

⁴The Center for Generational Kinetics: “The state of Gen Z 2018”

⁵IBM report: “Uniquely Gen Z: What brands should know about today’s youngest consumers”

⁶Millennial Marketing: The real figure of direct Gen Z spending

⁷UNiDAYS and Ad Age: “Gen Z: Preparing to face the future” 

⁸Wibbitz: “How to reach audiences with social video: from Millennials to Generation Z”

⁹ UNiDAYS: “Gen Z Insights: Zs and money: What you need to know”

¹⁰ UNiDAYS and Ad Age: “Meet Gen Z: The traveling generation”

¹¹Barkley and FutureCast study: “Getting to know Gen Z: How the pivotal generation is different than Millennials”

¹²Pew Research Center: “Gen Z looks a lot like Millennials in key social and political trends”

¹³VisionCritical: Unlike Millennials: 5 ways Gen Z differs from Gen Y

¹⁴ UNiDAYS: “Gen Z and belief-driven buying survey” (coming soon)